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23 Jun 2009 : Column 854W—continued
Doctors: Immigration
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what his estimate is of the number of non-UK doctors granted entry (a) through the points-based system and (b) otherwise is required for the NHS to operate at capacity. [280856]
Ann Keen: The United Kingdom medical work force is moving towards greater self-sufficiency as the increase in medical school places produces more UK trained doctors year on year. The medical profession is internationally mobile and the number of non-UK trained doctors finding employment in the UK will vary by specialty and geography, reflecting service demands and the flows of UK doctors. The Department has worked with the UK Borders Agency to ensure a number of routes are available through the points based system to allow the national health service to recruit the doctors it needs. This includes recruitment through the tier 5 medical training initiative.
Health Services: Elderly
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what his most recent assessment is of standards of out-of-hospital (a) palliative and (b) dementia care for elderly patients in (i) England, (ii) Essex and (iii) Castle Point; and if he will make a statement. [281876]
Phil Hope: As part of the work to develop the End of Life Care Strategy and the National Dementia Strategy, evidence was considered on all aspects of end of life care, including palliative care, services and dementia care services for adults in England as a whole, irrespective of age. The outcome of this work is reflected in the two strategies, which were published in July 2008 and February 2009 respectively. Copies of the strategies have already been placed in the Library and are available at:
We have made no assessment of the standards of out-of-hospital end of life care or dementia care for elderly patients in Essex or Castle Point. This is the responsibility of local primary care trusts and Essex county council.
Health Services: Technology
Dr. Ladyman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills on the proposals in the Digital Britain report for development of telecare and assistive technology; and if he will make a statement. [281487]
Phil Hope: Our Departments work closely together on the development of telecare and assistive technology. The Digital Britain Report highlights assisted living as a key example of communications-enabled innovation. This is supported by the Technology Strategy Board through its assisted living innovation platform.
Officials from both the Department of Health and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills sit on the Assisted Living Innovation Platform Steering Board to ensure that applied research addresses the needs of public service delivery within a developing digital infrastructure. The Department’s whole system demonstrator programme is testing the effectiveness of current assisted living technologies. The challenges identified by this programme have a direct influence on the targeting of research within the assisted living innovation platform.
Hospital Beds: Elderly
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many beds allocated for care of the elderly there were in hospitals in England in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement. [281787]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: The number of occupied and available bed days and day only beds is collected annually, from national health service providers by ward classification. The following table shows the number of available beds by ward classification in which care of the elderly could take place.
| Average daily number of available beds in wards open overnight by ward classification, England, 2003-04 to 2007-08 | |||||
| Available beds | |||||
| Ward classification | 2003-04 | 2004-05 | 2005-06 | 2006-07 | 2007-08 |
| Note: The Department collects annual data on a total of 24 ward classifications. The table above shows available beds in ward classifications which are classified specifically for care of the elderly or could be used for care of the elderly. Source: Department of Health form KH03 | |||||
In Vitro Fertilisation
Anne Milton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 7 May 2009, Official Report, column 341W, on in vitro fertilisation: standards, what assessment he has made of the level of compliance of assisted fertility centres with the requirements of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority in respect of witnessing clinical and laboratory practices during in vitro fertilisation treatment; and if he will make a statement. [281224]
Gillian Merron: The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) has advised that the compliance of individual assisted fertility centres with the authority requirements in respect of witnessing clinical and laboratory practices is assessed in the course of an inspection and the findings documented in the inspection report. Compliance is assessed for individual clinics on a case by case basis.
The HFEA's report “Focus on Improvement” comments on licensed clinics' performance between April 2006 and March 2007. The report is available on the HFEA's website at:
Learning Disability
Dr. Ladyman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much his Department spent on social care for people with a learning disability in 2008-09. [281491]
Phil Hope: Data on local authority expenditure on state funded social care are collected and published by the NHS Information Centre for health and social care.
The gross current expenditure for adults aged 18 to 64 with learning disabilities in England during 2007-08 was £3,450 million.
Expenditure data for adults aged 65 or over with learning disabilities are not collected centrally.
Data for 2008-09 are not yet available.
Maternity Services
Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much of the £330 million three-year allocation for improvements to maternity services was committed in 2008-09. [281126]
Ann Keen: The £330 million that is being made available over three years is included in primary care trust (PCT) baseline allocations. These allocations are not ring-fenced, and PCTs are able to determine how best to deliver national requirements and local priorities including how much to invest in particular services. The amount of expenditure that has been committed to maternity services is therefore determined by the national health service locally and not the Department. Data on total expenditure on maternity in 2008-09 are not yet available until the autumn.
Maternity Services: Manpower
Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what account he expects strategic health authorities to take of the 2008 non-medical workforce census in their maternity workforce plans; [281120]
(2) what estimate his Department uses of (a) the rate of attrition from training student midwives and (b) the proportion of newly-qualified midwives who secure employment as midwives with the NHS for the purposes of midwifery workforce planning; [281121]
(3) how many former NHS midwives returned to practise in the NHS in the latest period for which figures are available; [281123]
(4) what estimate his Department has made of the number of midwives retiring from the NHS in the next 10 years. [281124]
Ann Keen: It is for primary care trusts in partnership with local authorities, strategic health authorities (SHAs) and other local stakeholders to determine and plan the workforce they need to provide high quality maternity services in their localities.
The NHS Workforce Review Team (WRT) provides workforce planning support to strategic health authorities (SHAs), commissioners and providers across the National Health Service in England. WRT's annual publication Assessment of Workforce Priorities sets out the priority issues within workforce for health and social care, based on healthcare policy workforce need and assessment of the supply and demand factors that impact on clinical staff groups, building on workforce planning assumptions for; attrition, retirement and return to practice. This publication alongside other workforce planning publications can be viewed on WRT's website at: www.wrt.nhs.uk
SHAs reported in February 2008 that they planned to grow the midwifery workforce by up to 4,000 by 2012. This is contingent on the rising birth rate.
Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency: Pay
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much was paid in bonuses to (a) directors, (b) senior managers, (c) specialist and delivery managers and (d) executive support and administration staff in the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency in each of the last five years. [280322]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) does not hold the information in the categories of staff requested. The following information is based on staff bonuses received by staff at senior civil service (SCS) grades and grades below SCS (Non SCS). Data for 2004-05 are unavailable.
| £ | |||||
| Category | 2004-05 | 2005-06 | 2006-07 | 2007-08 | 2008-09 |
| (1) Introduced in 2008 | |||||
Muscular Dystrophy: Health Services
Mr. Fallon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidance is given to (a) primary care trusts and (b) social services on the care and treatment of people over the age of 18 with Duchenne muscular dystrophy. [281993]
Ann Keen: The NHS Evidence website:
contains detailed clinical and social care advice suitable for health professionals involved in the care of those with Duchenne muscular dystrophy.
Muscular Dystrophy: Research
Mr. Fallon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much Government funding is being made available for research into Duchenne muscular dystrophy in 2009-10. [281994]
Ann Keen: Both the Department and the Medical Research Council (MRC) support research into Duchenne muscular dystrophy. The MRC spent £2.1 million on such research in 2007-08. (Figures for more recent years are not yet available.) Projected departmental expenditure in the current financial year is principally expenditure by National Institute for Health Research Biomedical Research centres and amounts to £450,000.
NHS: Billing
Mr. Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 10 June 2009, Official Report, column 928W, on departmental billing, what steps he has taken to reduce the time taken by the NHS Purchasing and Supply Agency for payment of invoices; and what the total monetary value of contracts processed by the agency was in each of the last three years. [281996]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: In May 2009, the Department published a document outlining the new commercial operating model. This will involve transferring the NHS Purchasing and Supply Agency’s (PASA) functions to organisations that can add greater scope, scale and impact to the procurement of goods and services.
The total monetary value of contracts (invoices paid) processed by the agency in each of the last three years is shown in the following table.
| Financial year | Total value of invoices paid (£ million) |
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